Known strips are used, for example, to hold a certain number of contacts for ultimate connection to printed circuit boards or cards. Since, generally, the contacts are small and difficult to grasp, the strip makes handling thereof relatively easy and also facilitates storage and packing operations.
Further, with this type of strip, a large number of contacts may be positioned in a single operation, and fairly conveniently, to a given pitch on a printed circuit card where they are to be held in position in their respective holes during the brazing operation.
A desirable purpose of a strip is, in general, to protect the contacts during brazing and, especially, in the case of female contacts, to prevent penetration of the brazing or cleaning product into the contact, or else to prevent penetration of the washing product, during the subsequent operation of cleaning the circuits. The strip would also desirably protect the contacts during the operation of varnishing the card.
It is often in this latter role of protection, for example, with respect to pollution of the contacts by undesirable materials where the known methods have problems. Because of sealing defects which can occur between existing strips and the heads of the contacts, pollutants are able to penetrate by capillarity into the contact openings.
Metal type strips have the further specific disadvantage of often damaging the contacts by forcing the female contact or by scratching of the protective layer, during the different fitting operations, and are not easy to hold in place during the brazing operation.
As for the known plastic material films, cited as of general interest, they have proved to be difficult to dismantle after brazing.